Random skein dyeing



June 9, 1936. J. A. WEBBER RANDOM SKEIN DYEING Filed Aug. 9, 1934 lNVENTOR JAMES A. WEBBER BY HIS ATTORNEYS Patented June 9, 1936 PATENT OFFICE RANDOM SKEIN DYEING:

James A. Webber, Chester, Pa., as'signor to The Viscose Company, Marcus Hook, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 9, 1934, Serial No. 739,130

12 Claims.

This invention relates to method of and apparatus, or machine for random skein dyeing, which is the art of dyeing difierent parts of a skein in several shades or different colors.

Heretofore random skein dyeing has been done by hand. The skeins were suspended. on a rod and a certain length of the lower part thereof was dipped into the dye solution. When sufiiciently dyed the skeins were turned, bringing undyed yarn to the bottom of the suspended skeins, which were then dipped into another dye solution.

The diihculty with this hand method has been that the skeins were handled a great deal, making subsequent winding of the skeins diflicult. Also, the method was expensive in the use of dyes, since it was difiicult, if not impossible, to exhaust the dye bath to completion. The manual handling of the yarn, the difiiculty and increased expense of winding, and the poor exhaustion of the dye bath made random dyeing expensive and limited its industrial application.

It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide improved method and apparatus or machine for random skein dyeing, or to improve upon known dyeing machinery, or to adapt it for this purpose. Other objects may become apparent from the following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken away and shown in vertical section, of a machine to which the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been applied; and

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken along the line 2 2 of Figure l.

The machine shown, for example, is a Smith- Drum machine, comprising a frame 4 supporting a dye tank 5 connected by a suction pipe 0 to a pump 1, in turn connected by a pressure pipe 8 to a perforated metal tube 9. The skeins ll are hung on the tube 9 and the dye solution is pumped through the perforations, while the skeins are turned from time to time and are thus dyed, and the yarn left in good condition for subsequent winding.

According to the present invention, in adapting such a machine for random dyeing, a rubber gasket I0 is placed at each end of the perforated dyeing tube 9, and an invertedU-shaped sheet metal guard or shield I2 is mounted on the gaskets l0. These gaskets are annular and space the guard from the pipe 9. The arcuate ends of the guard I2 rest on these gaskets while the flat skirts of the guard hang down on each side of the pipe 9. A piece of open mesh cloth l3, like cheese cloth, is loosely wound around the guard and the skeins arehung over the metal uard.

The dye solution, as it is pumped up through the perforations in the tube 9, strikes the metal guard l2 which serves as a deflector so that the dye solution runs down the inner sides thereof coming in contact with the skeins only at the bottom of the guard. As a result, only this section of the yarn is dyed. The dye solution can thus be circulated until exhausted, so that the method is economical in the use of dye.

When one color has been applied in this manner to one section of the skein, the cloth l3 and the skeins ll resting on the sheet metal guard 42 are moved around thereon to the next position either by hand or mechanically and a different shade or color of dye is used to dye this section. In this way a large series of colors may be applied to the skeins.

The length to which the skeins will be dyed will depend upon the length of the sheet metal guard or how far apart or how near together the ends of the guard are placed. The length of the sheet metal guard may be made adjustable to facilitate manipulation. The open mesh cloth prevents the dye liquor from tangling and matting the yarn as it splashes to the bottom of the metal guard.

This method lends itself to economical random dyeing, and since the dye liquor is in constant agitation with the yarn during dyeing, it gives a greater uniformity in shade of the sections dyed, than the old hand method heretofore employed.

What I claim is:

1. In a textile processing machine comprising a tubular support having discharge outlets therein, means for introducing liquid under pressure into said support to discharge through said outlets against material, the combination of means for adapting said machine for random skein dyeing comprising an imperforate shield extending over said support and having skirts depending below said support.

2. In a textile processing machine, means to discharge treating liquid upon the material to be treated, and imperforate means interposed between said material and said discharging means and supporting said material thereon so as to hang down therefrom, said means also serving for preventing said liquid from contacting part of said material without interfering with the discharge of treating liquid upon the remainder of said material and without pinching any of said material.

3. In a textile processing machine comprising a tubular member having discharge outlets therein, a shield independent of said outlets for deflecting liquid discharged through said outlets from portions of material suspended with respect to said member to other portionsthereof, and means for supporting said shield between said material and said outlets.

4. In a textile processing machine comprising a tubular support having discharge outlets and means for introducing liquid under pressure into said support to discharge through said outlets against material suspended relative to said support, the combination of means on said support for supporting said material and protecting a part thereof from contact with said liquid, and means for spacing said protecting means from said outlets to permit the liquid therefrom to contact with the exposed remainder of said material.

5. In a textile processing machine comprising a pipe having perforations in the upper side thereof and means for supplying liquid under pressure to said pipe to discharge through said perforations, the combination of a shield on said pipe for supporting skeins and protecting a part thereof from contact with said liquid, and gaskets for spacing said shield from said perforations to permit the liquid therefrom to contact with the exposed remainder of said skeins.

- 6. In a textile processing machine, a support over which skeins to be processed are hung and supported in a vertical substantially elliptical form, a perforated tube mounted within said support for supplying treating liquid, said support being radially spaced from said pipe to permit lateral flow of liquid therebetween, and being imperforate to prevent liquid passing therethrough, whereby radial streams of treating liquid from the perforations in said supply pipe impinge upon said support and are deflected thereby from skein portions contacting the support, and directed to contact inner portions of said skeins exposed thereby and pass outwardly through said portions.

7. In a textile processing machine comprising a tubular support having discharge outlets and means for introducing liquid under pressure into said support to discharge through said outlets, the combination of annular gaskets mounted at the ends of said tubular support, and an imperforate shield of inverted substantially U shaped cross section having its arcuate ends mounted on said gaskets and its flat skirts depending therefrom.

8. Method of random skein dyeing which comprises projecting dyeing liquid radially outwardly from a point inside the skein without altering the initial outward projection of said liquid at said point, and changing the direction of the dyeing liquid so projected to prevent it from contacting a part of the skein and confining the dyeing liquid so changed in direction to contact only the remaining'part of the skein. Y

9. Method of random skein dyeing which comprises supporting skeins to maintain them in a vertical substantially elliptical form, projecting dyeing liquid outwardly from a point inside said substantially elliptical form without altering the initial outward projection of said liquid at said point, and deflecting all of said projected dyeing liquid to contact a part only of said skein.

10. Method of random skein dyeing which comprises projecting dyeing liquid outwardly from a point inside the skein, preventing the dyeing liquid so projected from contacting a part of the skein while permitting it to contact the remainder thereof, without interfering with the initial outward projection of said liquid from said point inside the skein, shifting said skein peripherally and repeating said dyeing liquid projecting step with a different liquid.

11. Apparatus for random skein dyeing which comprises means for projecting dyeing liquid radia ly outwardly from a point inside the skein Without altering the initial outward projection of said liquid at said point and a deflector for changing the direction of the dyeing liquid so projected to prevent it from contacting a part of the skein and means for confining the dyeing liquid 50 changed in direction to contact only the remaining part of the skein.

12. In a skein dyeing machine having a support over which skeins are passed so as to hang down therefrom, means to spray dyeing liquid upon said skeins, imperforate shield means interposed between said spray and said skeins for de fleeting said dyeing liquid from contacting part of said skeins while permitting it to contact the remainder thereof without compressing said skeins.

JAMES A. WEBBER. 

